In true Nadal style, you cannot say that you have seen the last match of Rafael Nadal. He has given everything he has, but it was not enough against Botic van de Zandschulp. And with what he’s seen of himself, he assumes he’s not ready for more.
«What is private is private. It has not been an easy decision for the captain. David Ferrer has put on the court the player who he felt had the best chance of winning. There have been many conversations this week. After training yesterday, David was confident that I was the player who had to play. And I knew that playing the first point had a risk. But I know that David has decided for the good of the team, not for my good. This is not my decision. That’s why we have a captain. “I’m not,” he discharged responsibility.
He has felt the emotions on the surface, during the anthem, during the game, and throughout the week. «I lost my first Davis Cup match and I lose my last: we closed the circle. I knew it could be my last match as a professional tennis player. The previous moments have been exciting, a little difficult to manage. I have tried to do it in the best way possible, trying to have control. It hasn’t been enough. There was a small gap and it couldn’t be. And the other has been better than me,” he assumed before the press. Serious, eyebrow raised.
Bittersweet feelings for not having been able to help the team, but he does not beat himself up. Although he does put the reasons for his defeat against the Dutchman on the table: «I tried to have all the energy to play the game. I have not had the ability to be well enough to have control. On a track that is very fast and in the points you don’t have time to think. When you are out of competition it is difficult to keep up. And everything is decided with details: quick reactions that you need to work automatically, without thinking, but I don’t have the automatisms of those that are in the circuit. I didn’t have the mental agility to do things without thinking. I have always been self-critical and hard on myself to be better, but I won’t do it today. It could be my last game, I’m not going to be harsh. I have done what I could, it has not given me more.
He says that he does not want to be self-critical, that he has been for twenty years, but he is, although he looks to the future with a little hope: “I will continue training so, if the circumstances arise where I can be on the track, I will try to do better than today. I can’t think of what I could have done better. “Now it’s time to cheer on the team.”
But he does know what he would do if he were captain and there is another opportunity on Friday: “If I am the captain, I wouldn’t be able to in the next game.” And not because he doesn’t feel like it, but because of what he has seen himself on the track. Few are as realistic as him: «I would live this every day if I could. One thing is what I want and another is what I think is best for the team. Today it was not known what was best for the team. There was the unknown of how he would respond in competition because there was no data. And in training it had worked more or less well. I wish the situation could arise and I will continue working to be eligible to continue playing, doubles or singles. I’m just saying that I’ve seen what I’ve seen of my level in competition compared to training. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s what I think would be best for the team. If we pass and on Friday David tells me come out, I would go out with the utmost enthusiasm.
He said goodbye, after nine questions, with a thank you for the support received at Martín Carpena, and around the world: «I can’t thank all the people who have helped me non-stop enough. The crowd has been incredible, as it has always been when I have played in Spain. I have tried to have the right energy and the best attitude. But it has not been enough.
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